The Meatball Shop Celebrates Five Years With $5 Specials — Tonight Only

February 9, 2015

Five years ago today, Daniel Holzman and Michael Chernow opened the doors to The Meatball Shop (184 Stanton Street, 212-982-8895) on Stanton Street, only to find a line snaking down the block. “I was so scared that no one was going to show up to our party,” Holzman remembers. But show up they did, and now the longtime best friends preside over a growing empire, which includes six shops and counting. Today, in celebration of the restaurant’s fifth birthday, the original Meatball Shop is offering a couple of deals, which is reason to get yourself down there and toast the owners with a glass — or pitcher — of sangria.

The kitchen has put together a list of celebratory specials for the event, including a black trumpet mushroom and black truffle risotto, a caper and bottarga salad, and roasted potatoes with caviar. Because all specials are $5 at the Meatball Shop, that’s how much each of these dishes will cost you, which is probably the least amount of money you’ll ever pay for either black truffles or caviar. Moreover, you can get a bowl of meatballs and a side for $5 total tonight.

“It’s $5 because it’s our five-year anniversary,” says Holzman. “And the good thing is that we’ll make more money every year — next year, it can be $6.”

“It’s like Subway’s $5 foot-long,” adds Chernow. “We’re taking a page out of their book.”

Come back tomorrow for our profile of Holzman and Chernow, which details their past five years and what they have planned for the future.